Les Invasions Barbares (2003, 112 mins) Dir. Denys Arcand.
Les Invasions Barbares is the story of Rémy, who is in his early fifties, divorced, and hospitalized. His ex-wife Louise asks their son Sébastien, enjoying a successful career in London, to come home. Sébastien hesitates; he and his father haven’t had much to say to one another in years. He relents, however, and flies to Montréal with his French fiancée. Upon his arrival, Sébastien stops at nothing to obtain a clear picture of his father’s state of health and make things easier for him during the difficult times ahead.

Session on cinematography:

John Seale on Cinematography (45 mins)
John Seale, the acclaimed cinematographer, who won an Oscar for The English Patient, explains his techniques in that film, as well as City of Angels. The discussion is illustrated by actual sequences from the films.

Zubeidaa (2001, 153 mins) Dir. Shyam Benegal

Zubeidaa is a story of a young man Riyaz's (Rajit Kapur) quest to recover the memory of his mother Zubeidaa (Karisma Kapoor), a mother he never knew. Brought up by his grandmother from the age of three, all knowledge of his mother was kept away from him. Troubled by the scant knowledge he has of his mother, Riyaz sets about trying to piece together her life from the memories of those who knew her.

Kikujiro (2000, 116 mins) Dir. Takeshi Kitano
Nine-year old Masao who lives with his grandmother has always wondered what his mother is like since she left him with her grandmother at a young age in order to work at her new faraway job. One day during the summer Masao grows bored since all of his friends have gone on vacation and decides to finally set out and to visit his mother. While on the beginning of his travels he meets up with a couple that are friends with his grandmother. The wife decides to send her husband, known only as Mister to the audience, to escort Masao safely to his mother. The two main characters end up hitchhiking the entire way to Masao's Mother's house and have encounters with various yet interesting characters and events.

Ikiru (1952, 143 mins) Dir. Akira Kurosawa

Kanji Watanabe is a longtime bureaucrat in a city office who, along with the rest of the office, spends his entire working life doing nothing. He learns he is dying of cancer and wants to find some meaning in his life. He finds himself unable to talk with his family, and spends a night on the town with a novelist, but that leaves him unfulfilled. He next spends time with a young woman from his office, but finally decides he can make a difference though his job. After Watanabe’s death, co-workers at his funeral discuss his behaviour over the last several months and debate why he suddenly became assertive in his job to promote a city park, and resolve to be more like Watanabe.

Wandafuru raifu (1998, 118 mins) Dir. Hirokazu Koreeda

After people die, they spend a week with counselors, also dead, who help them pick one memory, the only memory they can take to eternity. They describe the memory to the staff who work with a crew to film it and screen it at week’s end; eternity follows. Twenty-two (22) dead arrive that week, assigned to three counselors and a trainee. One old man cannot find a memory, so he watches videotape of his life. Others pick their memory quickly, and the film crew gets right to work. The trainee, 18 year-old Shiori, helps a teenage girl choose a memory other than Disneyland. The youthful staff have a secret and feelings, too, which play out, especially Shiori’s affection for her mentor, Mochizuki.

L’aventure c’est l’aventure (1972, 120 mins) Dir. Claude Lelouch

Five French-Italian crooks find themselves becoming outdated in swinging 70's France so they update their tactics, specializing in kidnappings - including rock star Johnny Halliday, who has arranged his own abduction for the publicity.